1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a medical instrument for observing the interior of a body, and, in particular, to a guide pipe particularly suitable for use with an endoscope for observing subcutaneous tissue. More specifically, the present invention relates to a medical guide pipe which may be used with an endoscope to observe tissue, such as a muscle, tendons and nerves, which is directly present under the skin and also to carry out a subcutaneous operation with a minimum of damage to the skin.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An endoscope is well known as a device for observing a space present in a body, such as a joint, abdominal cavity, bladder, stomach and intestines, and it is used widely in various medical fields, such as orthodpedic surgery, internal medicine, surgery, gynecology and urology. A typical method of using such an endoscope is illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a space or cavity 3c is defined between a pair of oposing bones 3a and 3b at a joint 3 of a body, and an endoscope 1 is inserted into the space 3c of the joint 3 to observe the interior of the joint 3. The endoscope 1 is elongate in shape and fitted into a metal outer sleeve 2 for protection. An optical system is provided inside the endoscope 1 so that light is emitted forward from the tip end of the endoscope 1 for illuminating the space 3c. The illuminated space 3c is thus observed visually through an objective lens mounted at the tip end of the endoscope 1. However, in accordance with the prior art, the endoscope 1 was used only when it was desired to observe a portion of the body where there was a space or cavity, and it was impossible to directly observe subcutaneous tissue, such as a muscle, tendons, and nerves, using a prior art endoscope.